On August 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) announced new, stringent measures aimed at tightening controls over the export, reexport, and transfer of U.S.-origin and U.S.-branded items to Russia and Belarus. This action is part of continuing efforts to constrain Russia’s military capabilities amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Below is a summary of the key changes and guidance issued by BIS.

The New Jersey Supreme Court recently held in a consolidated appeal that incident reports regarding injuries at healthcare facilities were not protected by Patient Safety Act self-critical analysis privilege when the facilities did not comply with PSA procedures

On July 23, 2023, the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) new rule became effective. The law expands the Export Administration Regulations’ (EAR) Foreign Direct Product rule for Iran, and applicable license requirements.

The law concerns the export of products, regardless of the country of origin, to Iran. This is an additional attempt to curtail the use of U.S. – derived technologies for export, reexport, and in-country transfer to Iran, in response to fears that such technology may be used for weapons systems, including drones, that could target U.S. interests and the interests of key U.S. allies.

The Department of Justice's (DOJ) new Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program, announced in August 2024, is a groundbreaking initiative designed to encourage the reporting of corporate misconduct by offering significant financial incentives. The program will be administered over three years by the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) and aims to cover crimes that have historically fallen outside the scope of other federal whistleblower programs.

On the heels of a recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas dismissing state law negligence claims against a broker based on Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) preemption in Farfan v. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc., the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana has now joined the chorus of courts adopting this position by granting a motion to dismiss a broker defendant in a case filed by a plaintiff injured in a motor vehicle accident in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana in September 2021

On August 7, 2024, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department issued a decision of note under the New York anti-SLAPP Law. Nelson v. Ardrey, 2024 NY Slip Op 04147. The Court’s decision followed rulings by other courts to conclude that Facebook and similar social media platforms constitute public forums under the Law (Civil Rights Law §§ 70-a, 76-a). As to the merits of the claim presented, the court ruled that the particular Facebook posts - which accused the plaintiff of sexual abuse - were not encompassed by the anti-SLAPP Law because they concerned purely private matters and were addressed to a small audience.

In a June 12, 2024, guidance document, the U.S. Treasury Department’s (“Treasury”) Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced a new interpretation that significantly expands its authority to impose secondary sanctions on Foreign Financial Institutions (“FFIs”).

Adding to a growing body of Texas case law favoring federal preemption for transportation brokers, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas issued an order this week dismissing state law negligence claims against a broker in Farfan v. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc., Case No. 4:23-cv-03470, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (August 12, 2024).